Chambre d'amour

[Digger]

I'm new to breeding T. sigiana.  I've found that both male and female are more skittish than many other sp.  The male, particularly so (afraid of food, his own shadow, the dark, you name it).  I've been warned that the girls are particularly difficult when introducing a male.  So, at the spur of the moment, I decided to try this --- a cattle chute design.  Made from a cut-out toothpaste tube and wrapped with transparent plastic.  Unfortunately, it's too large a diameter and the Missus is able to turn around.  But we shall see.

I call it the  Chambre d'amour

 

[CosbyArt]

Hopefully it does turn into it's namesake and becomes a house of love. Innovative idea for a tiny species though.

If you do want to try another box she will not be able to turn around in (as easily) try making one out of a cold pill style box (check your bathroom). The box is much more narrow, but has plenty of height.

I was curious of the species and found only one site with details about them. It seems to be a very difficult species to bred with only one real tip is to try breeding at dusk - but of course that is a common ideal.

Mating
When adult, allow your mantids 8 to 14 days after their final moult before pairing with each other.
Best time to attempt pairing is around dusk
Place the female in the males cage, preferably in front of the male so that the male sees the female but the female does not see the male and leave them too it ! The female is aggressive and will likely attack the male before , during or after mating so BEWARE....keep an eye on proceedings.
If you see the mantids mating, remove the male after coitus and keep for other females or to re mate after eggsacs are laid
The female, when mated will likely lay an ootheca between 7 and 20 days later. (An ootheca is the name given to the eggsac laid by mantis and cockroaches)
The ootheca will likely take 30 to 40 days to hatch and should be incubated at about 23 to 26 degrees and misted daily. Each ootheca will hatch out approx 80 nymphs give or take 20 or so !!!!!!!

 

[Digger]

The Chamber of Love became a restaurant.  The female (at some point in the evening) left only a foreleg of poor Subra, resting on the floor.  No, pretty certain there was no connection.  This morning I abandoned the Chambre d'amour and carefully, slowly (took 1/2 an hour) maneuvered my remaining male (Zuri) to about 10cm directly behind Nia - my most gravid female who was gorging on a moth.  Nia shot several glances back at the male and started to turn (moth in grasp) toward him. I had a small cardboard to block her view when she did this and she eventually relaxed, turned forward again and munched the moth.  Finally, after about an hour, the male simple flew off into the living room.  It's amazing how this species even survives!  I suspect a lot of males get eaten before one succeeds.  I'll try again, but leaving the male alone in an enclosure with these girls, I think, is guaranteed suicide.

 

[CosbyArt]

Sorry to hear Subra didn't have a chance. Hopefully Zuri can get your females bred though. At least it sounds like he has a shot as he was able to fly off and survive after his encounter.

It is amazing such species survive in the wild with their breeding habits. Likely why some species only exist in small colonies, like the Unicorn mantids and such. Best of luck Digger with your efforts.

 

[Krissim Klaw]

I was going to say there is no way I would ever leave a male trapped in such a small enclosed space unless you were there supervising/able to easily intervene. Interesting idea about trying something narrow to sort of guide the female during the initial introduction though.

I've found setting my boys on plants really helps. I have little desk plants I always use and I will always stick the male up on a leaf then introduce the female lower so my boy can peek down and spy on her safely from a distance. I've found placing the girls on a white blanket often makes their outline really pop and the male's key in quick on what they are looking at. If you feel the males are too skittish to breed out of a cage I suggest going opposite of that little contraption and using one of your largest cages with plenty of hiding spots. Just make sure the male sees the female when you first introduce the girl so he can avoid her if he doesn't have the nerve to mate. I would only leave the caged together from dusk-dawn and remove the female during the daylight hours.

 

[Sticky]

I put mine on branches that are totally open in the room. The male can fly away or just drop. I like that much better than putting both in a cage.

 

[Digger]

I agree with you Krissim and Sticky - the Chambre d'amour was too confined for the male and not confined enough for the female. My research and limited experience now lead me to an open room.  M and F on a dining room table, white surface underneath for contrast.  The females are so rapid and insistent to kill the male before a mount, a completely unencumbered escape is needed, I think.  With luck, I'll find the escaped male in the room.  One idea - which I'm not going to try - would be to make some sort of an opaque collar to slip down over the female's thorax so she couldn't see the male behind her, or make a turn.  But it would probably stress her out too much.  I got these T. sigiana from Yen. I'll copy this to him and see how he survived breeding sessions (probably had scads of males).